Iguazu Falls

Now that I'm back here in the states, I finally have some reliable WiFi and will use this time to recap what happened our last two days in Argentina.

On Thursday, January 10th, our group visited the Argentinian side of Iguazu Falls. The falls are formed by the Iguazu River and its tumble over the Parana Plateau. Words cannot describe how gorgeous and awe-inspiring the falls really are. I will post pictures, but the pictures won't even come close to the real life experience of viewing the falls.

Our first view of the falls came after we took a 0.8 mile walk across the top of the Parana Plateau. First we trekked through the subtropical rain forest and then crossed shallow river water that allowed trees to grow out of seemingly nowhere.One of the reason the trees seemed to grow out of seemingly nowhere was because there had been a considerable amount of rainfall in recent days, causing the river height to be higher than normal. (This also caused the water to look a  brown color). When we reached the top, this is what we saw.

This picture just doesn't do justice. 

After our first walk, we continued our journey around Iguazu. Along the way, we saw many different plants, animals and insects. I am very thankful for the different fauna because they sure do make some great stories. For instance, around the park there are cute little coatis, animals that resemble the raccoon. 

A coati scaling the railing with no fear of humans

They look cute and adorable, right? Wrong. As we were walking to another part of the park, we entered a path canopied by trees and shrubs. Besides just the group, there were some other park visitors mixed among us. One of these other park visitors had a bag of chips in a plastic bag she was carrying on her back. Out of nowhere came one of these coatis and with sharp claws and teeth, broke through the plastic bag and swiped the chips. Not soon after, twenty other coatis came out of the trees and a feeding frenzy began over the chips. The look that they had in their eyes when they grabbed their prized chips? Evil. Pure. Evil.

Besides coatis, we saw an alligator, napping monkeys, large birds, and many different reptiles. 

We continued our trek through the park and witnessed so many gorgeous views of the falls. 

After we ventured around the park for a few more hours, it was time for our boat ride. This wasn't just any boat ride, however. It was a boat ride around the bottom of the falls. I can honestly tell you it was one of the funnest things I have ever done in my life. We boarded the river with life jackets and dry bags and held on for dear life. The churning river, along with the maneuvering of the boat by our captain, caused torrents of water to crash into the boat. At times, when we got extremely close to the crashing falls, it was so misty that one could not see what was going on. All one could do was enjoy the cooling relief of water in the hot humid jungle air. 

Our boat took is down the river away from the falls. On either side of the boat was a different country. To the south was Argentina and the north, Brazil. Cliffs with bright green flora towered over the river as we floated down to our next destination. Best boat ride ever.

We climbed up the cliffs and boarded a jungle buggy (it probably has a different name, but I feel my term is fitting as well) to take us through the jungle back to our bus. I felt like Indiana Jones. As soon as we got to our bus, we drove straight to the airport so we could board our flight back to Buenos Aires. The Falls and jungle were amazing, and I hope to come back another time in my life. 

If you are ever in Brazil or Argentina, go to Iguazu Falls.

Jodi